


heed the sirens

by Leocht (mayibetriumphant)



Series: Shatterpoints [4]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Episode: s04e15 Deception, this isn't mace windu critical jsyk
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-16
Updated: 2020-11-16
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:00:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,232
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27584429
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mayibetriumphant/pseuds/Leocht
Summary: Depa decides that dealing with the Council and the Senate at the same time is like herding armed and dangerous cats, and Obi-Wan doesn't help at all.
Relationships: Anakin Skywalker & Depa Billaba, Anakin Skywalker & Obi-Wan Kenobi, Depa Billaba & Obi-Wan Kenobi
Series: Shatterpoints [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1877410
Comments: 2
Kudos: 27





	heed the sirens

**Author's Note:**

> Title pulled from Pale White Horse by the Oh Hellos.  
> You can find more of my writing and some art over on my tumblr @diasporawar :)

“Is something the matter, Obi-Wan?”

“No.”

Depa frowns at his short answer. “You’d rather be dealing with a cramping teenage girl than be on patrol with _me_? Far away from the Temple?”

“I—of course not. I don’t envy Anakin one bit.”

She bumps him with her hip and laughs when he loses his balance for a moment. “Then cheer up, will you? It’s been quite a while since we saw each other last. We have catching up to do. Are you not going to ask how my mission was?”

“Well, yes, I suppose we do, but there’s something I must tell you. Before you came back from your last mission, the Council—"

A shot rings out, narrowly missing her skull, and severing one of her braids.

Without pausing, Obi-Wan grabs her and ducks behind a wall. That was too close. His mind races with the possibilities of what would happen if she were injured in this, especially when she’s not even supposed to be anywhere near Coruscant. There would be no coming back for her.

“A sniper, there, I see him,” she points to a nearby rooftop, and grimaces. “Ugh, this _stinks_.” The haircut she’s going to need after this one will be horrendous.

“Depa, this is important—"

Another shot comes too close to their feet, and she yanks him out of the way in return. “We’re even now,” she says breathlessly. “How are we doing this?”  
“Listen to me!”

“We’re being shot at! Can it not wait? He’s using the rooftops to move, and we’ll lose him down here if we stand around arguing.”  
Obi-Wan feels horrible. She was supposed to be out of communication for the duration of this mission, leaving him to only worry about Anakin and Ahsoka’s reaction. But she’s too good at her job and came back over a month earlier than planned.

Depa taps his face. “We’ve dealt with worse. Remember Chandrila when we were Padawans?”

He allows himself a small smile. “Hard to forget.” Apparently, little Jedi are a valuable target for bounty hunters, and someone thought that they should try their luck on them while they were separated from Master Windu.

“I’ll draw his fire. You strike,” she shrugs out of his grip and ignites her lightsaber, darting out from their cover and using her momentum to propel herself to the next rooftop.

Obi-Wan takes the moment she’s distracted to inject himself with the vitals suppressor and crush the casing in his fist. He has approximately five minutes before it takes its full effect. Might as well make the most of them.

Depa glances around the area, searching for the sniper again. He stopped firing at her only moments earlier, but she didn’t sense any other movement. “Obi-Wan, I lost him. Do you have anything?”

He’s not too far away. She can just barely see his outline behind an air-conditioning unit through the ever-present smog in the lower levels. “Obi-Wan, respond.”

The man sighs. At this point, he’s genuinely more worried that she’ll murder him for real once this is all over. Hardeen is nearby, preparing to take his shot, just as he was asked to. His comm link beeps again.

“Obi-Wan, come in. What’s—”

The Force doesn’t bother warning him to move, and the blaster bolt hits him squarely in the chest. It hurts a little more—a lot more—than he expected it would, even with the armor. But he doesn’t feel it for long.

Later, Depa cannot say that she remembers choosing not to go after Hardeen. It was all a blur, and Obi-Wan needed her.

Her fingers tremble as she feels his wrist, then his neck. Did she remember to be careful with his head? That was a long fall—what if she jostled a neck injury? “Obi-Wan…?”

He doesn’t react when she gently pats his face. His cold, colorless face.

“Obi, wake up. Wake up.”

A concerned bar-owner pokes her head out of her door, lekku twitching nervously. “Master Jedi, do you—“

“Please. Call for help—I...please, call for help. He...it was a long fall.”

The blue woman says nothing about the charred hole in his clothes, too far right of his shoulder. “Alright,” she closes the door briefly and returns with a tablecloth.

A small crowd has begun to gather, to see what the fuss was about. There’s already whispers, gawking, pointed fingers.

The living Jedi pleads with her companion silently, mouth moving wordlessly. She barely looks up when Ha’la approaches with her makeshift shroud.

“Ma’am—“

The Jedi looks out the corner of her eye at her, and for a brief second, she thinks she might lash out, but she just wilts, pulling the body closer. “...thank you.”

She gently tucks the cloth around his upper body. It’s not quite long enough to cover him fully, but they won’t worry about that now.

“I’m so sorry. My husband has called an ambulance, and they’ll be in contact with your Temple.”

“We shouldn’t have split up. Why did I listen to him?”

The look in her eyes is unfortunately familiar to Ha’la. She saw it in her own mother’s eyes on Ryloth when the slavers killed her father. And her uncles’ when they returned to find their wives and children gone.

Ha’la grips her hand. “What is your name?”

“Depa. And he’s Obi-Wan,” she bites down on her lip in an attempt to stop her tears from falling. “I want to see him.”

“No. Not right now,” Ha’la stops her from uncovering his face again. “Don’t do that. Don’t do that to yourself.”

A sob claws its way out of Depa’s throat, and Ha’la hides her face in her shoulder. She notices that one of her long braids is hanging halfway off her head. One of those shots must have just barely missed the back of her head.

She always heard that Jedi were emotionless creatures, who eschewed all forms of attachment, even to the children they took from their families. But here this one is, weeping over the death of another.

The ambulance comes, and another speeder with a new Jedi, moments later. The tall man looks sick for a brief moment as the medics uncover the victim’s face to call time. He turns away quickly, and shields Depa’s view of the scene.

“I am Jedi Master Mace Windu. Who might you be?” He asks.

“Ha’la Sanshi. My husband and I own the next building over.”

“You may be receiving a call from the guard later to take a witness statement,” he advises. “And...thank you for your compassion. Was anyone in your establishment hurt?”

“No. My husband put our girls in the safe room as soon as we heard the first shot.”

“I’m glad to hear it,” he gestures to her new charge with a silent ‘ _may I?’_

“Master Jedi, there’s someone here for you,” Ha’la whispers.

“ _Mynah_ , it’s time to go home.”

The older Jedi pulls Depa gently away from Ha’la and dabs her eyes with the end of one long sleeve. He has a short, low-voiced conversation with her in a language Ha’la has never heard before. Windu briefly grips her forearm, and she nods wearily.

Then after a moment, the younger Jedi stands and bows. “I thank you, Miss Sanshi.”

The tremor in her voice can’t be hidden. Poor thing. Ha’la inclines her head. “You have my sympathies. Both of you.”


End file.
